Excuse Me While I Fall For You
by emptyvessels
Summary: A collection of Crellie drabbles based on songs, all completely unrelated to each other. Result of boredom and insomnia.
1. Set 1

Meh. Four random Crellie drabbles. Written as a result of insomnia. None of them have anything to do with each other. I don't really know if I like any of them, and I don't know if I'm keeping this or deleting it. Feedback?

Oh, and I own nothing.

If all else fails, I hope the least you get out of this is how beautiful of a song Hesitate is. Listen to it.

_**Please, if you're coming down to rescue me… now would be perfect**_

**[Shadowman – K's Choice]**

It starts with a scream. An agonizing, haunting sound that comes from the bathroom of a cheap second-rate motel nearly abandoned on some forgotten road.

He thinks back on a time not too far back but long gone as he feels his chest tighten. He thinks of the hearts he has broken, the dreams he has forgotten, and the friends he left behind.

_It hurts so bad_, this pain in his chest. He wants to rip out his own heart, but then remembers he never had one to begin with.

"_It's all going to be lies! You'll say whatever it takes to get your hands on this, won't you?"_

He flinches at the memory. His best friend, a girl broken enough to begin with, in pieces after the greatest heartache she had come to face. And it was _all his doing_. The only person in his life to _ever_ understand his fucked up mind and accept him the way he was… and he played her out like she was some fucking _groupie_ who happened to be standing between him and his addiction.

It's been nearly two weeks since he's touched the stuff. Nearly three whole _months_ since he's seen her.

And he can't tell which is killing him more.

_**Oh, how we push and pull**_

**[Try – Asher Book]**

"No." Ellie says firmly, finishing up the last of her morning coffee fix; all black, no sugar. Craig couldn't stand the smell of it, let alone understand how she could drink the stuff.

"Why not?" He asks.

"You know why."

He rolls his eyes, "Devon's never fucking _here_. What would it matter? Just _one date._"

"He is still my boyfriend," Ellie explains, hoping that would end the conversation.

But Craig wouldn't accept this as an excuse. He turned and stood in front of her, his dark eyes fixed on hers. She tries to step to the side, out of his way, but he mirrored her movements, blocking every escape she attempted to make.

"I'm not moving until I get a better reason, Ellie Nash."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "I have a boyfriend, _Craig Manning_," the tone in her voice mocking his.

"Who cheated on you while studying abroad in Italy! He even told you himself!" He places his hands on her arms, as if trying to make her realize something important. "_Hello!_"

"We technically haven't broken up. Just because he cheated on me does not mean it's okay for me to turn around and do the same thi-"

A pair of warm, rough lips cut her off; a mouth she had been dying to kiss again since their one time fling in California. The same lips she had forgotten about as different lovers entered and exited their lives. She couldn't even gather up enough willpower to resist. The one boy she never thought could possibly love her back was kissing her.

And suddenly, nothing was real and everything felt _whole_.

_**Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me**_

**[Edge of Desire – John Mayer]**

His hands find their way up her spine, unhooking her bra so skillfully she wondered just _how many times_ he had done this before.

She lets out a small, barely audible moan as his lips trace her collarbone and begins lifting up his old black t-shirt, the one with some old, overrated band's name faded out on the front. She tosses it to the ground in a hurry to feel his skin pressed against hers.

It wasn't what she thought it would be like. Not that it was bad. It was just… different. It was rushed, yet she felt safe and comfortable.

And, well, it was needless to say that she hadn't pictured her first time being with her best friend's ex-boyfriend on an old couch in a dark, cold garage she had come to know so well over the summer.

Maybe he was only doing this because he was hurting, and maybe it was desperate and wrong of her to take advantage of him this way, but it felt _so right,_ as cliché as it sounds.

It was over a lot faster than she thought it would be, but having nothing to compare it to, she couldn't be too sure. He held her afterwards like it was the most natural thing in the world, to be there with _her_ of all people. He rested his head on her soft red hair and just laid there, holding her, while she drifted off to sleep.

He won't know what to think or feel come morning, but for now, this was enough.

_**I'm fearful of heights and you take me higher**_

**[Hesitate – Steve Moakler]**

There was the cocaine thing. _Strike one._

No, wait. That was definitely strike two. There was no way she didn't hold choosing Manny against him. She was _definitely_ angry about that for awhile.

Strike three was the whole thing that happened in California, which he had been redeemed for shortly afterwards.

Strike four (he's obviously had too many chances here), was not calling her or answering her calls after that kiss in the airport. He didn't know how to feel about it, and by the time he finally did… well…

_Strike five._ Trying to kiss her when she had a new boyfriend named Jamie or something. He was a nice enough guy but the relationship didn't last long. She blamed him for it for the _longest_ time, but he waited for her to finally forgive him, which took several months.

Regardless of all of those "second chances" and broken hearts, they managed to keep each other. And as he stood there, seeing the girl who pushed him to chase his dreams, and the woman who helped him learn to love himself and put himself back together, slowly making her way towards him looking more beautiful than he could ever imagine, this was all that seemed to matter.

_She kept him around._

XxXx

Eh.. What do you all think?


	2. Set 2

Years later, but I was feeling inspired tonight and thought it made more sense to post these here. More (length-varying) drabbles inspired by music I had on shuffle. Again, each of these are completely unrelated to each other. The formatting is just a little different with this set, but it's pretty much the same kind of thing as the last! Enjoy.

* * *

><p><em>1.<em>

_"By the end of tonight, you don't have to look up at the stars."_

[After Tonight - Justin Nozuka]

After it was over, he held her body close.

"You don't have to stay," she spoke softly, nuzzling her head into her soft pillow.

Craig watched as her eyes fluttered shut and her arms reached up to clutch at where the comforter ended across her chest.

"I'm not staying because I have to," he replied.

She _hmmed _softly and drifted off to a deep slumber, and Craig wondered how he could be so lucky.

_2._

_"So keep your head up, and make it to me..."_

[Make it to Me - Sam Smith]

Ellie bit her lip nervously as she entered her apartment, her mind preoccupied with the much-too-many responsibilities she had on her plate. She tossed her mail on the coffee table, absentmindedly picking through it to sort out junk mail and bills.

Among the usual trash she didn't care for, today, was a photograph. A familiar shoreline on a cloudy day, the sky dark and waves violent. She turned it over. In familiar, slanted handwriting read the words:

_Los Angeles, California.  
>This is what it feels like everyday.<br>Miss you.  
><em>_Craig_

She let out a heavy breath to keep herself steady and stood to her feet, hastily pushing aside her preoccupations to begin her journey across the country.

She had to see him.

_3._

_"How come your arms are not around me?"_

[How Come Your Arms Are Not Around Me? - City and Colour]

A ghost.

That's all he is these days.

Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but she almost resents him for it. She knew there'd be distance between them, she just never thought it was possible to sit down next to someone who wasn't there at all.

She clutched her gut as she watched him sleep in the bed soundlessly beside her. The numbness was almost too painful.

_Remember,_ she begged him, though she knew he could not hear her.

None of this was his fault, except it was. He'd made the decision that night; he drove himself down a path he could not see.

And she almost hated him. But not as much as she hated herself.

_4._

_"But I've been looking at you for a long, long time."_

[Bonfire Heart - James Blunt]

Ellie laughs and it's hypnotic. He can't believe he's managed to make it through most of high school without noticing her laugh.

He vows in that moment to be more funny.

She glances up at him from across the makeshift fire pit they've created and catches his eye, a soft blush coloring her cheeks. She looks away nervously, but he doesn't read into it. He'd been staring after all. He probably made her self-conscious.

Clearing his throat, he blinks and looks away.

"So," he says, "scary stories, then?"

She smiles smugly and looks up at him, one eyebrow cocked. "I've got one I don't think you could handle."

_5._

_"You've been lonely - we've been lonely, too long."_

[Dust to Dust - The Civil Wars]

"You truly are ridiculous."

A large, grey RV sat in their driveway; so wide and bulky it almost took up the whole width of the paved pathway.

Craig smirked. "You love it."

"It's ugly and tacky and I'm embarrassed to even be looking at it," but she smiled. "I do love it." She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose, then on his chin, and finally on his lips. "I love it so much."

She turned back to look at the atrocity on wheels and shook her head in disbelief. "We're RV people now," she laughed, her tone feigning disgust. "We are, like, the unhippest hipsters who ever lived. I am almost too ashamed to look at you."

"You know, Joey never even rented an RV. Not once. And he had the potential to be pretty lame sometimes," Craig agreed with his wife. "But if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it in style."

She turned to him again, still smiling. "Finley is going to _lose _it when she sees this when she gets home from school."

The little girl has been obsessed with touring the country since her father couldn't shut up about it. It had become her _dream_ to go on tour with him.

This was the best alternative

Craig crossed his arms and sighed dramatically, putting on his best imitation of his daughter. "'_But _daddy_, you couldn't have gotten it in PURPLE?!_'" he laughed.

Ellie rolled her eyes, giggling in spite of herself.

* * *

><p>As always, if you are interested in seeing any of these become longer one shots, don't hesitate to ask. I'd do my best to make it happen.<p> 


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